Bristlecone Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 4,414 BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Bristlecone Advisors LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 4,414 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $4,525,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in BlackRock by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,983,583 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,681,472,000 after purchasing an additional 42,757 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,816,577 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,663,330,000 after buying an additional 30,182 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 10.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,244,608,000 after buying an additional 226,135 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.9% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,247 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,081,561,000 after acquiring an additional 40,865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 89,389.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,046,131 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $993,312,000 after acquiring an additional 1,044,962 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,403,973.12. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $991.95 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,024.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $968.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. The company has a market capitalization of $153.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $745.55 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $9.66 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on BLK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Sunday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $914.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,120.67.

BlackRock Profile

BlackRock, Inc is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm primarily provides its services to institutional, intermediary, and individual investors including corporate, public, union, and industry pension plans, insurance companies, third-party mutual funds, endowments, public institutions, governments, foundations, charities, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, official institutions, and banks.